It was the heading, Bush Backs His U.N. Nominee, but Powell Warns of Volatility, of Douglas Jehl's article in today's New York Times that reminded me of the figurative use - another way to fly, in this case off the handle - of this useful word (although I am not convinced that «bullying» and «volatility» are synonyms). The following, at any rate, is what AHD has to say on the matter :

vol·a·tile [...]adj.

1.Chemistrya. Evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures. b. That can be readily vaporized.

2.a. Tending to vary often or widely, as in price: the ups and downs of volatile stocks. b. Inconstant; fickle: a flirt's volatile affections. c. Lighthearted; flighty: in a volatile mood. d. Ephemeral; fleeting.

3.Tending to violence; explosive: a volatile situation with troops and rioters eager for a confrontation.

4.Flying or capable of flying; volant.

--------------------------------------------------------------[French, from Old French, from Latin volâtilis, flying, from volâtus, past participle of volâre, to fly.]--------------------------------------------------------------vola·tile n. vola·tili·ty [...] or vola·tile·ness [...] n.

[French, from Old French, from Latin volâtilis, flying, from volâtus, past participle of volâre, to fly.]

Volare, oh oh, allontanare, oh oh oh ohLet's fly way up to the clouds Away from the liberal crowdsWe can sing in the glow of a nuke that I know ofWhere our crowd enjoys peace of mindLet us leave the intrusion of heathen inclusion behind...Everybody! Volare, oh, oh,

Beats me ! But based upon the little experience I have, my judgement is that the «Left» does not comprise the monsters you seem to fear. Perhaps the real monsters, if they exist, have found more profitable political affiliations ?...

I hope it's not too volatile to suggest that "conservative" is not synonymous with rigid closed-mindedness and "liberal" is not synonymous with immoral anarchy. Fortunately, most people live somewhere in between.

Thanks, gailr! One good turn deserves another and, of course, parody without hyperbole would be, how should I say this, just silly!

"It isn't enough just to jab, one must twist alittle too!"

Henri:

.....based upon the little experience I have, my judgement is that the «Left» does not comprise the monsters you seem to fear. Perhaps the real monsters, if they exist, have found more profitable political affiliations ?...

Or, maybe, just maybe, the monsters that you admire, Henri, are even more ruthless, duplicitous, and self-serving than the ones that you despise!

Apo

'Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination.' -Max Planck

[French, from Old French, from Latin volâtilis, flying, from volâtus, past participle of volâre, to fly.] --------------------------------------------------------------

I was going to say volatile always reminds me of fiery, rather than flighty but here we seem to havbe both,

[quote]Or, maybe, just maybe, the monsters that you admire, Henri, are even more ruthless, duplicitous, and self-serving than the ones that you despise! [quote]
well, since they own the Media, they are who they say they are......

Or, maybe, just maybe, the monsters that you admire, Henri, are even more ruthless, duplicitous, and self-serving than the ones that you despise!

I try, Apo, to keep my admiration for monsters within reasonable limits, even if I may not always succeed. On the personal level, while I have in the course of my professional life met not a few people who have done monstrous things, I have never, with perhaps one exception - a young man whose brain had been infected with toxoplasmosis - met any monsters. The real problem arises, I think, in our attempts to judge the moral character of public figures, who almost universally act as if the end justifies the means, and whose view of ends is intimately coupled, of course, with raisons d'état, which seem to justify almost any horror. Are they to be judged by other standards in their public works than in their lives as private individuals, subject to the same strictures as we ? I can't pretend to a final answer to this question, but what I have noticed is that even persons who maintain (in theory) a strict deontological ethic tend to be forgiving of errors committed by «their side» in a dispute. This, I think, is particularly evident in religious or ethnic clashes, in which the need to protect the True Word of God or the Purity and Future of the Race, takes precedence over the dictates of common humanity....

AH, Henri, interesting concept, "monsters I've known and...er...um... not cared for." NO, Feared! I've known two, the others in life who were unpleasanrt may have just been my perception, or Horrors, just reacting to me???? I have known Many many heroes, Saints or whatever you want to call them, And I doubt they were all just my perception as others seemed to glow when they were around. Most however were combo people... Gee, this is way more complicated thsat I expected when I hit the <reply> button.